DEATH OF A LONG-LOST SON by PF Ford

 4* Decent outing for Slater and his new sidekick, that was easy to follow, despite my not having read all the Slater & Norman tales. 

I'm not sure what happened to Norm, but there's a hint that he's recovering from a medical condition or episode, and perhaps that's what leads to the start of Norm's Welsh Mystery series. But, I wasn't lost in this new tale, though I did cringe at how un-PC Slater was with Watson, especially in 2024. There was enough to make female-me uncomfortable with some of the sexist teasing and the sexist praise he gave her, and the uncomfortable innuendo from some of the things he said, but they did clear the air and things settled down. But, seriously the guy needs a couple of DEI courses and to learn appropriate language to use with both subordinates and females. How he's not been pulled up for his sexism...!?

Still, the tale and the mystery are decent, although with some little inconsistencies that really should have elicited more questions from the stunned father who finds out his missing child and girlfriend are dead, with the child not being a newborn as he'd expected, but a 5yo. The explanations and reveals were a mix of didn't, and did, 'see that coming'. The ending was a bit of a shocker for me and Slater, and hopefully he'll come out of it a little more humble and human. This was definitely worth a read, but Slater needs a lot of work to de-dinosaur him amd bring him into 2024.

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